Reports from Australia and the United States suggest this.

The Song Plus, unveiled at the 2020 Shanghai Motor Show, is one of BYD’s latest models.

IS New Zealand an early stop on a roadmap for international expansion plotted by one of China's largest electric vehicle companies?

BYD – shorthand for ‘Build Your Dreams’ - has signed an agreement to sell cars in Australia, with the first cars due to arrive next year. According to a United States-based EV news website, InsideEVs.com, New Zealand is also part of that deal.

Meantime, Australia’s CarAdvice.com website has been first to reveal the plans for the brand’s official entry across the Tasman.

It explains that BYD, which has been experimenting in Australia with a handful of cars since 2015, will be represented by a distributor, Nexport, that plans to sell vehicles online only;. Pricing is expected to be revealed later this year.

The site says Nexport has dibs on being BYD’s right-hand drive market distributor within the Asia-Pacific region.

The arrangement marks the first third-party agreement of this kind that BYD has entered into globally and will be of benefit to buyers, as it will considerably reduce the products’ cost.

Presently, another China-based brand, MG, sells the cheapest new electric car in New Zealand. The MG ZS EV is a $48,990 proposition.

Nexport chief executive Luke Todd told CarAdvice his business strategy "shakes up the Australian dealership model" and will "deliver high quality electric vehicles from the manufacturer direct to the customer".

"The dealership network model is broken when it comes to electric vehicles. Under our model, we will be reducing the price to consumers by as much as 30 percent," said Todd.

"A heavy reliance on aftersales and convoluted importation processes adds unnecessary cost. By revamping these processes, we're targeting a sale price that's at parity with internal combustion vehicles."

While Nexport has already imported current-generation BYD electric vehicles into Australia, they are not the final products Australians will be purchasing.

Nexport plans to launch a future range of BYD products that have yet to be revealed globally. They might include the Song Plus, a medium SUV that was revealed at last year’s Shanghai Auto Show.

"All next generation BYD products will feature the brand's proprietary 'Blade Battery' technology, and are unlike any other offerings currently in Australia," added Todd.

CarAdvice understands the first BYD cars destined for Australia – and presumably NZ - will be revealed at the Shanghai car show, on April 21.

We also expect that the Australian line-up will consist of only fully-electric offerings, and include a medium-sized SUV, and medium-sized sports sedan – similar to the BYD Han.

Nexport plans to pre-launch the BYD brand in Australia mid-way through this year, and begin accepting pre-orders at that time

BYD reportedly sold 461,399 vehicles globally last year, all in left-hand drive format, the majority within China. Of that figure, 130,970 were fully-electric vehicles, and 48,084 plug-in hybrids with internal combustion assistance.

The brand has hired former Audi head designer Wolfgang Egger as its chief designer, and has recently opened a multi-billion dollar electric vehicle R&D centre in Shenzhen, China.

Nexport is a subsidiary of Australian-owned renewable energy investment firm TrueGreen.